On November 7, HUD announced the suspension of the HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME) and Community Housing Development Organization (CHDO) deadline requirements through December 31, 2025.

The suspension is included in the 2023 HOME appropriation, which adds a provision continuing the suspension of the 24-month commitment requirement. The suspension would extend to any CHDO funds that were deobligated in 2018 or that would be deobligated through 2025.

Enforcement of the CHDO commitment deadlines will cease by HUD until end of the suspension date.

For more information, please contact your local HUD Field Office.

The fourth week of the NAHRO Day 3 webinar series will be this afternoon, Thursday November 9 at 1:30pm ET.

This week’s webinar, titled “Centering Impacted Communities in Advocacy,” explores advocacy for Public Housing Authorities (PHAs). Speakers will share strategies towards garnering support for funding, redevelopment, partnership, and other aligned priorities. Additionally, speakers will convey the importance of residents’ and program participants’ perspectives.

The session is led by the Housing Authority of the Birmingham District located in Alabama.

To register for the Day 3 webinar series, please see here.

Future Webinar Topics:
November 16: Building Resident and Owner Financial Resiliency

On October 24, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the Federal Reserve Board (FRB), and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) jointly issued the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) final rule.

The CRA, which was designed to encourage banks to help meet the credit needs of low- and moderate-income communities, has been revised to better adapt to changes in the banking industry. The final rule takes effect on April 1, 2024, with staggered compliance dates on January 1, 2026, and January 1, 2027.

The final rule includes revisions such as:

• Establishes and updates four performance tests (Retail Lending Test, Retail Services and Products Test, Community Development Financing Test, and Community Development Services Test).
• Reduces the number of major product lines potentially evaluated under the Retail Lending Test from six to three.
• Limits the evaluation of automobile lending under the Retail Lending Test.
• Adjusts retail lending performance ranges.
• Changes weight of community development financing activities to now be weighted equal to retail activities when evaluating large banks under the Retail Lending Test.
• Tailors requirements for delineating retail lending assessment areas (RLAAs).
• Adds metric under the Community Development Financing Test that focuses on certain investments relative to deposits for banks greater than $10 billion.
• Creates an impact factor under the Community Development Financing Test to evaluate investments made to the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) and New Markets Tax Credit.
• Clarifies the strategic plan option and provides additional flexibility for banks with nontraditional business models.
• Increases the compliance date for banks to be in alignment with the new requirements from 12 months to more than 24 months after the rule is adopted and published.
• Clarifies the provision on CRA ratings downgrades.
• Allows certain loans to small businesses to be considered as a community development loan under the economic development category.
• Recognizes differences in bank size and business models to include large banks, intermediate banks, small banks, and limited purpose banks.
• Updates asset size thresholds for different bank sizes.
• Exempts small and intermediate banks from new data collection requirements that apply to banks with assets of at least $2 billion.
• Limits certain data collection and reporting requirements to large banks with assets greater than $10 billion.

For a more detailed analysis of the final rule, please see the next edition of the NAHRO Monitor on November 15.

For the final rule, see here.

On November 2, 2023, the Office of Community Planning and Development (CPD) published CPD Notice 2023-12, “CPD Implementation Guidance for the Build America, Buy America Act’s domestic content procurement preference as part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.” This notice is the first piece of implementation guidance by the Department on the Build America, Buy America Act (BABA). This guidance applies to roughly eighteen CPD programs, which are defined in Section III of the notice.

The guidance discusses the following topics:

• The implementation process for this new law,
• Implementation dates and an overview of guidance for all federal agencies,
• Definitions,
• Applicability for CPD programs,
• The waiver process,
• Guidance on Tribal Recipient waivers,
• Project-specific waivers—including nonavailability and cost waivers,
• The process for determining whether BABA applies to a project,
• Recordkeeping,
• Frequently Asked Questions, and
• Sample grant agreement language.

Understanding whether and when the BAP applies to specific situations can be difficult because HUD has utilized a phased implementation waiver. This means that agencies must comply with the law’s Build America Preference (BAP) based on when funds were obligated, the program for which funding was awarded, and the type of materials purchased with the funds. The guidance describes a step-by-step process for reviewing whether funding may apply to a project. However, while many programs are not yet covered by BABA, the law does currently apply to CDBG funds obligated on or after November 15, 2022 to buy iron or steel, Recovery Housing Program funds obligated on or after August 23, 2023 to buy iron or steel, and several non-CPD programs used for iron or steel purchases.

 As the Office of Management and Budget continues implementing BABA for federal agencies, the information HUD provides to CPD funding recipients may change. Additionally, this waiver focuses primarily on CPD programs, though the principles about how and when the BAP applies would be useful for any HUD recipient of Federal financial assistance.

NAHRO applauds HUD’s release of this guidance. While it does not apply to all HUD programs, it is topical as several CPD programs are beginning to receive funding subject to the BAP. For more information, see the November 3 NAHRO Direct News and the November 15 edition of The NAHRO Monitor, and the notice.

NAHRO’s 2nd annual Day 3 webinar series is back! Continuing today, November 2, this five-week webinar series will feature sessions and topics that give attendees a taste of what they would expect from attending our National Conference. Registration is free to all. Attendees that sign-up for a session will automatically be enrolled into the full remainder of the series.

This week’s topic is “This USDA Program is for Rural and Urban Areas.” Community Resources and Housing Development Corporation is a national technical assistant provider for USDA helping to increase the use of their 514/516 program.  This program provides loans (1%, 33 years) and grant funding (a combination total of $5,000,000 per development) PLUS rental assistance to help households that earn 65% of their income in the agriculture industry. Non-profits and housing authorities can learn how to utilize the free technical assistance to help with project planning and application process. This is the only USDA program that is not required to be in a rural area.

Register here: https://nahro-org.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Zhq2tIjNRtOkYjsjfbfuag

Future Webinar Topics:

November 9: Centering Impacted Communities in Advocacy
November 16: Building Resident and Owner Financial Resiliency

On October 26, HUD’s Office of Community Planning and Development (CPD) issued Notice CPD-2023-10, which updates and expands the use of funds for the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG).

The notice includes guidance meant to assist grantees in properly using CDBG funding that complies with regulatory eligibility and national objective requirements. It supersedes Notice CPD-07-08, including language that focuses on how grantees can use funds to support and promote equity in their communities. The notice also addresses how CDBG funding can assist Consolidated Plans and fair housing planning activities that relate to multiple HUD programs.

A key focus of the notice is to align the use of CDBG funds with HUD strategic goals. These goals consist of supporting underserved communities, ensuring equitable access to and increased production of affordable housing, promoting homeownership, and advancing sustainable communities.

Additionally, the notice encourages the use of CDBG funds that directly support the Housing Supply Action Plan that was announced by the Biden-Harris administration in 2022.

For a more detailed analysis of the notice, please see the next edition of the NAHRO Monitor on November 15.

For the full notice, please see here.

Waiver Form

A proposed waiver form is available to view, and it is housed on the Office of the General Counsel webpage, described below. This waiver form will be used for multiple waiver types.

Webpages

The Department has published two new webpages containing resources for the Build America, Buy America Act (BABA).

1. Build America, Buy America Office of General Counsel Webpage: use this new webpage for the following:
   1. An overview of BABA,
   1. A breakdown of situations in which BABA applies,
   1. An overview of BABA compliance,
   1. A centralized explanation of waivers—including a copy of the proposed waiver form, and
   1. Frequently Asked Questions.
2. Build America, Buy America HUD Exchange Webpage: use this new webpage for the following:
   1. Learn about BABA as it relates to CPD programs specifically,
   1. Find links to BABA training webinars and “quick guides” covering CPD programs including webinars beginning Thursday November 2^nd, and
   1. Find a list of recent BABA news and announcements.

Webinars

There are four upcoming webinars.

• “BABA Virtual Education Outreach” November 9, 2023, 12:00-2:00pm ET: Hosted by HUD Office of Public and Indian Housing, this webinar is for all recipients of Federal financial assistance.
• “Build America, Buy America Act Webinar Series – 2023/2024”: This webinar is for HUD CPD grantees.
  • “BABA Webinar for HUD CPD Grantees” November 2, 2023, 2:00-3:00pm ET
  • “BABA Webinar for CDBG and RHP Grantees” November 15, 2023, 2:00-3:00pm ET
  • “BABA Webinar for ESG and CoC Grantees” November 29, 2023, 2:00-3:00pm ET
  • Four additional webinars beginning in December 2023—see the series link above

See the November 15 edition of The NAHRO Monitor for more information about the waiver form.

On October 31, HUD published a proposed rule titled “Removing Criminal Conviction Restrictions for Testers in FHIP- and FHAP-Funded Testing Programs,” which removes prohibitions against individuals with certain criminal convictions in two programs. These programs, the Fair Housing Initiatives Program (FHIP) and Fair Housing Assistance Program (FHAP), provide money to non-profits (FHIP) or state and local governments (FHAP) to combat fair housing violations. One way these organizations pursue this mission is through “testing,” in which program representatives participate in the housing application processes to determine if housing organizations and providers violate fair housing laws during this process. HUD has barred people with felony, fraud, or perjury convictions from serving as these “testers.”

This proposed rule would no longer forbid FHIP and FHAP testers who have prior felony, fraud, or perjury convictions. The final rule outlines the ways in which this change aligns with HUD’s goals as well as the legal basis for this rule.

For more information, see the November 15 edition of The NAHRO Monitor or the proposed rule.

On October 25, HUD announced that the application deadline for the the Pathways to Removing Obstacles to Housing (PRO Housing) Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) has been extended to November 6 at 11:59 pm ET.

PRO Housing is a newly established program focused on supporting communities who are actively taking steps to remove barriers to affordable housing. The program is governed by statutes and regulations of the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program.

For those interested in applying, please see the NOFO here.

For more information on the program please see here.

The second week of the NAHRO Day 3 webinar series will be on Thursday October 26 at 1:30pm ET, featuring a discussion on the current landscape of the Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS) program.

This week’s webinar, titled “Breaking Barriers to FSS,” explores the common obstacles in accessing the FSS program. Speakers will share their vision for a new FSS model, grounded in behavioral economics, in which families automatically enroll in the program.

The session is led by Compass Working Capital, an organization focused on ending asset poverty for families with low incomes and narrowing the racial and gender wealth divides. Since 2010, Compass has partnered with public housing agencies and other affordable housing providers to operate an asset-building model for the FSS program.

To register for the Day 3 webinar series, please see here.

Future Webinar Topics:
November 2: This USDA Program is for Rural and Urban Areas
November 9: Centering Impacted Communities in Advocacy
November 16: Building Resident and Owner Financial Resiliency